WWE Network impressions

[Warner2BruceTD]

Oh my god..."SLAM CITY" has been added to the Originals section, a stop-motion animated series about wrestlers getting day jobs.

:rofl:

I can't wait to watch this.

"Coffee house barista extraordinaire Alberto Del Rio finds himself at odds with a very unsatisfied customer in Damian Sandow"

I didn't just make that up, by the way.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

This is being considered for The Network:

 

[The Buddha]

It looks horribly awesome....Wold watch.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Not good: http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2014/2014_4_7.jsp

667,287

Possibly the last Mania they offer on the Network, unless there is a significant jump in the number of subscribers.

The break even point is over one million. That's the goal by the end of the year. But if they could only muster less than 700k for Mania, that does not bode well.

They have to make the decision to include WMXXXI by October, since the Network subs run in six month cycles.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Not good: http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2014/2014_4_7.jsp

667,287

Possibly the last Mania they offer on the Network, unless there is a significant jump in the number of subscribers.

The break even point is over one million. That's the goal by the end of the year. But if they could only muster less than 700k for Mania, that does not bode well.

They have to make the decision to include WMXXXI by October, since the Network subs run in six month cycles.

What works for them is that they will be seeing who renews by September, since the first subscribers will be either renewing or dropping at the end of August, so they have a month to discuss that decision.

Do you think the PPV companies would even run it? In their minds, the WWE has taken business from them, so why should they run one show for them? That probably won't happen, as it's leaving a lot of revenue on the table for them.

This thing is going to go well over a million subscribers once it hits Canada and other world markets, so my guess is that goal is essentially covering the US market?

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

What works for them is that they will be seeing who renews by September, since the first subscribers will be either renewing or dropping at the end of August, so they have a month to discuss that decision.

Do you think the PPV companies would even run it? In their minds, the WWE has taken business from them, so why should they run one show for them? That probably won't happen, as it's leaving a lot of revenue on the table for them.

This thing is going to go well over a million subscribers once it hits Canada and other world markets, so my guess is that goal is essentially covering the US market?

U.S. break even is a little over one million. International is higher.

I suspect many will drop subs after the six months when the novelty wears off.

Bottom line is less than 700k with the biggest hook (Mania) in the rear view is not good news at all.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

So do you think it is likely they do something along the lines of this: If you've been a subscriber since before WM30 and you keep your subscription active, you can still get WM shows on the Network, otherwise you would have to buy it on PPV. I don't think so, but if they are concerned about subscriptions dropping at the 6 month point, it could be something they do.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

So do you think it is likely they do something along the lines of this: If you've been a subscriber since before WM30 and you keep your subscription active, you can still get WM shows on the Network, otherwise you would have to buy it on PPV. I don't think so, but if they are concerned about subscriptions dropping at the 6 month point, it could be something they do.

I don't think they'll do that.

Chris Harrington has nailed the numbers on the head from day one. He was very skeptical they could do a million, and predicted 400-500k average for the year (not peak Mania numbers, average).

Bottom line is they are shredding money by keeping Mania on the Network at under 700k. They would be better off yanking Mania and losing 200k subscribers.

If they yank Mania and lose 500k, well, it might be time to abandon ship.

We knew 1M wouldn't be easy. Only 4 million watch RAW for free.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Stock has dropped 14% today (around $4 as I type this).

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Not good: http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2014/2014_4_7.jsp

667,287

Possibly the last Mania they offer on the Network, unless there is a significant jump in the number of subscribers.

The break even point is over one million. That's the goal by the end of the year. But if they could only muster less than 700k for Mania, that does not bode well.

They have to make the decision to include WMXXXI by October, since the Network subs run in six month cycles.

I'm intrigued to see Big Dave's numbers for the actual PPV buys.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Stock has dropped 14% today (around $4 as I type this).

I hope the Mountain Dew sponsorship that they plugged a few times makes up for it

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I'm intrigued to see Big Dave's numbers for the actual PPV buys.

Last month, mookie predicted "over 650k" Network subs + 250,000 PPV buys.

http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-...restlenomics-wwe-network-numbers-7-days-later

Welp, he nailed the first half right on the head.

 

[EmpireWF]

They'll have to think outside the box to try and recruit people who aren't actively watching WWE TV at the moment. Cut deals with other businesses (NASCAR? Other big sports leagues, universities, etc.) to get 1-week trials to hordes of people and hope that a fraction end up signing up for the 6 months.

WM was the big pull out of the gate and now that that's gone, I hope they have some tricks up their sleeve in terms of content (aside from the monthly PPV) to make the network CANT MISS.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Yeah, Judgement Day & Extreme Rules aren't going to get them over the top, not even close. Neither is Legend's House, etc.

My pessimistic prediction is WrestleMania gets pulled, and they are happy with the 500-700k base, which they can make money on without the cannibalization of Mania.

If you recall, I was skeptical from the start that Mania would remain long term. It's juts too much lost cashflow. Their hardcore base is much smaller than they think it is, no matter how many fake "Did You Know's?" they run on RAW.

 

[PP]

Numbers aside long term its the right move to cut out PPV.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Numbers aside long term its the right move to cut out PPV.

Agreed. They may have jumped the gun a little, and the massive popularity of WrestleMania is actually a weird negative wrench in the plan. But clearly PPV is going the way of the dinosaur.

 

[PP]

Agreed. They may have jumped the gun a little, and the massive popularity of WrestleMania is actually a weird negative wrench in the plan. But clearly PPV is going the way of the dinosaur.

Stock numbers may drop and maybe short term profitability won't be there but they have to ride the wave out for sure. Will be interesting to see what their next RAW/SD contract will look like.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Up to $5 loss per share.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Up to $5 loss per share.

Now over $6.

Also, internally people were "shocked" at how low the number was.

http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-...ssive-wwe-stock-selloff-due-to-network-number